In the present study, we found that PTEN overexpression mimicked shHes1-induced MET, and inhibited the migration and invasion of NPC cells, whereas shRNA-PTEN expression in shHes1-expressing CNE2 cells reversed shHes1-induced MET and abrogated shHes1-mediated suppression of motility and invasion of NPC cells. Here, PTEN is linked to nasopharyngeal carcinoma.